I'm delighted you enjoyed it this time, Guillermo. I, too, could barely put The Good Soldier down. I simply couldn't believe how well written it is. I think it is a nearly perfect example of the proper way to employ an unreliable narrator. It's been a long time since I read a book that made me want to grab everyone I know by the lapels and say, "You must read this book!"

I hope sometime soon to get around to reading Parade's End as well, although I admit that the length is somewhat daunting.

--Previous Message-- : I decided (wisely) to follow Sterling's : recommendation and reread The Good Soldier. : I'm glad I did. I first read this book in : November of 2005, when I was passing through : a strange phase in my way of thinking (kind : of fed-up with the shortcomings of life). I : found that the book dealt with a bunch of : useless, good-for-nothing rich people : without employment or occupation in the : world. Therefore, their whole life consisted : in petty plots, balls, drinking and whoring, : including adultery as one of the beaux arts. : : My judgment was superficial, and in any case : the plot and even the characters matter : little. What counts, what really shines, is : Ford's writing. Yep, the art of putting : words together to create a narrative, a : narrator, and a point of view. John Dowell, : the narrator, says at some point that his : psychology is irrelevant to his narrative. : This is devilishly clever on the part of : Ford, since the whole point of the book is : to unveil, layer after layer, Dowell's : psychology. This time around, I couldn't put : the book down and the couple of times I did : so were responses to basic needs like : sleeping or earning a living. Ford's : literature is simply magical, and it led to : my partial reappraisal of the characters. : : First, Florence: undoubtedly a harpy, a : despicable deceiver and manipulator, but : hey, it is also true that back in those days : (and even in our time, celebrities : excepted), women had to observe a much more : demanding moral code than men. Her youthful : escapades marked her as a #####, and the : discovery of such actions would have made : her forever unmarketable as a bride. She HAD : to lie. Nevertheless, she is a bad woman. : : Leonora: the perils of Catholicism, point. : : Edward: jeez, a good guy, married to the : wrong (emotionally) and right (financially) : woman. An explosive combination. A man : stunted in his emotional development who : ends up a disgrace. : : John: poor guy. : : So, my appreciation of the characters is : pretty much the same, but that of the : writing increased tremendously. I'm looking : forward to reading "Parade's End", : the whole four novels. Thanks for insisting. :